PRINCIPLE #4: SEE IT
We find in Genesis 13:5-18 that the land was not able to support all the cattle that Lot had and all the cattle that Abram had. So there arose a conflict between Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen. Now we must note the original commandment or instruction from God. He told Abram to “Get out of his country, and from his kindred and from his father’s house.” Lot was his kindred that maybe he should have left in Haran. Now apparently Lot had become a part of his immediate family because Lot’s father, Abram’s brother, died back in Ur of Chaldees before Abram’s father even left to go to Canaan. We can presume that Abram took on the responsibility of caring for Lot. But if Lot had cattle and herdsmen, apparently he was a grown man at this time. It’s time for us to let go of the grown folks in our lives. Cut the apron strings and the umbilical cords. Maybe we think we are helping them by continuing to nurture and care for them, but it’s time for them to grow up.
The strife and conflict between the herdsmen turned out to be something that God used to bring to Abram’s attention that he needed to separate himself from Lot. Abram proposes to Lot that they should separate themselves from each other. Lot chooses to sojourn over in the plains of Jordan and Abram stays in the land of Canaan which is the land that God promised him anyway.
Now immediately after the separation, in Genesis 13:14-18, God speaks to Abram and tells him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are north-ward, south-ward, eastward and westward for ALL the land that you see I will give it to you and your seed forever.”
The Lord speaks to Abram now that He and Lot are separated. God opens his eyes to see what God has for him. You see we can’t take everybody with us to the land of promise. We can only take who God says we can take. We need to give our loved ones over to God, especially those over 21 and able to fend for themselves. You don’t stop spiritual warfare though as we see Abram fighting for Lot in Genesis 14 and then interceding for his life in Gen 18 when God sent angels to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah where he lived. But it’s time to cut the soul ties. Otherwise, you will never get to the place or even see the place that God is trying to take you to. Who in your life do you need to separate yourself from or let go of?
Not only does God tell him to look up and see the land that I am giving you but I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. (Genesis 13:16)
God is giving Abram another image, another vision, another way to see the promise, another way to see what God is saying to him. This promise of many descendants was of particular interest to him because his wife was barren.
We’ve got to see what God is saying. Paul prays, that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened that you may see.
Ephesians 1:17-18 AMPCE
17 [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, 18 By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),
God wants our faith to see. He does not want our faith to be blind. OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU. Look up! Get a vision, write it down, make it plain as Habakkuk 2 says.
APPLICATION:
1) Who do you need to remove from your life so that you can hear from God and see what God has for you?
2) Spend some time in prayer seeking the Lord and asking Him to show you His will and plan for your life.
3) Now write it down in a journal or on a piece of paper that you can keep and refer back to you what God showed you.
4) Review God’s will and plan for your life daily and speak it out loud over yourself until you see what God has said.